Resilient heel support



Nov. 2, 1965 M. NADAUD 3,214,349

RESILIENT HEEL SUPPORT Filed Dec. 27, 1963 I NVEN TOR.

F/G. 4 BY MARCL NADAUD Canaan M M ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,214,849 RESILIENT HEEL SUPPORT Marcel Nadaud, 130Blvd. de la Republicque, Saint-Cloud, Seine-et-Oise, France Filed Dec.27, 1963, Ser. No. 333,862 Claims priority, application France, Feb. 4,1963, 923,675, Patent 1,357,669 1 Claim. (Cl. 36-38) This inventionrelates to a resilient heel support and has as its objective theprovision of a new and improved device of this general class.

It is known that in the process of walking the placing of the heel of ashoe upon the ground causes an impact or shock which when repeated manytimes has a tiring and discomforting tendency. Also, it is desirablethat the heel be provided with an effective cushioning device in orderto promote both comfort and better foot health.

While it is known to provide cushioning devices upon or for use with theheel of a shoe, the prior devices heretofore used have tended to becomeworn through constant depression and release of the compressible deviceand furthermore have had a tendency to create a resistance directlyproportional to the downwardly applied force of the heel of a foot, orin other words, to provide a resistance in an increasing amountdepending upon the weight applied to it.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide animproved resilient heel support which will exert a constant resilientforce over a wide range and which also will not tend to become worn orto grow in resistance with continued use.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a resilientheel device which can be easily applied so as to be contacted by theheel of a wearer, the device being capable of either being built intothe shoe or being capable of being applied at a later time.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a resilientheel support which is relatively simple in construction and economicalin manufacture and use.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a resilientheel support which will yield under the pressure of the heel, thusabsorbing the shocks of the heel, giving more suppleness to the walk andthus increasing comfort.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a resilientheel support which is of relatively simple manufacture, which can beeasily and safely fastened to a shoe and which can be applied to a shoewithout any modification of the same.

The foregoing as well as other objects of the invention are achieved byproviding a resilient heel support which includes a rigid or semi-rigidplate associated with and supported by a spring blade that is adapted tolie beneath the rigid or semi-rigid plate. The spring blade has asubstantially plane part in contact with the heel of a shoe and isfastened upon the inner surface of the heel of the shoe. The springblade further includes an upwardly and inwardly inclined part having arear end which rests upon the undersurface of the rigid plate and maymove freely with respect to the plate when the spring blade is elongatedunder pressure of the foot of a wearer. The rigid plate is secured to aspring blade at one end thereof in a cantilever type arrangement inorder to permit the absorption of downward pressure upon the same.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of the presentinvention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the resilient heel sup- "Ice port of thepresent invention taken generally from the top thereof;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the resilient heel support of FIG. 1taken generally from the bottom thereof;

FIG. 3 is a view partly in section showing the resilient heel support ofthe present invention secured in place in a shoe during the manufacturethereof;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detailed view showing the attachment of the rigidplate and the spring blade; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged detailed view similar to FIG. 4 but showing analternative form of attachment of the plate and the spring blade.

Referring now to the various figures of the drawing wherein likereference characters refer to like parts, there is shown at 10 aresilient heel support embodying the present invention. The resilientheel support 10, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, basically comprises a rigidor semirigid plate 11 which is secured to and supported by a springblade 12.

The rigid plate 11 is of a configuration generally in a shape whichconforms to a heel. Both the rigid plate 11 and the spring blade 12 maybe of metal or plastic or other materials well known to the art. Therigid plate 11 and the spring blade 12 are joined together along lateraledge 13 by means of rivets 13A.

As shown in FIG. 2, the spring blade 12 is narrower than the rigid blade11 and is generally of a constant width and terminates rearwardly in anarcuate edge.

It is to be understood that the configuration of both the rigid plate 11and the spring blade 12 may be varied in thickness, width and length inaccordance with intended use and also as determined by the configurationof the shoe with which the resilient heel support of the presentinvention is to be used. For instance, the dimensions may be varied sothat the present invention may be usable with mens, womens or childrensshoes.

As shown in FIG. 3, the spring blade 12 includes a plane part 19-A andan inclined part 19-B. As further shown in FIG. 3, the plane part 19A ofthe spring blade 12 is adapted to lie flush against a sole inside theshoe 4 or the plane part 19-A may lie on the insole 21 of the shoe 4.

As further shown in FIG. 3, the inclined section 19-B is inclinedupwardly or inwardly toward the rigid plate 11 and actually terminatedrearwardly in a lip 19-C which will slip or slide with respect to theundersurface of the plate 11 When the weight of a heel or othercompressive force is applied thereto.

As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the plane part 19A and the inclinedsection 19-13 are essentially distinguishable by virtue of a fold lineor line of demarcation 19D.

As shown in FIG. 2, part 19-A includes two small holes 5 in order toreceive pegs or nails 6 for securing the present device upon a heel 7 ofshoe 4. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the rigid plate 11 includes enlargedopenings 8 in order to permit the passage completely therethrough of thepeg or nail 6.

It is thus seen that the resilient heel support 10 of the presentinvention may be secured upon the heel 7 by positioning of the same inthe appropriate place and then applying pegs or nails 6 so that theypass completely through enlarged opening 8 and may be hammered down intothe heel 7 so that the spike portion of the peg or nail 6 passesessentially through opening 5 with the head of the pegs 6 restingimmediately upon the upper or inner surface of the plane part 19-A ofthe spring blade 12.

As shown in FIG. 4, the forward edge of the rigid plate 11 is slightlyflattened out into a flange 11A for purposes of facilitating the joiningof rigid plate 11 to the plane portion 19-A of the spring blade 12. Asshown in FIG. 5, the spring blade 12 may include a flattened section19-E instead of the rigid plate 11 in order to facilitate the making ofthe joint between the rigid plate 11 and the spring blade 12. 7

It is thus seen that the spring blade 12, because of its form and theposition of its supporting points, undergoes stress and elongationwhenever a crushing r compressive force is applied upon the rigid plate11.

It is to be further. noted that any forces, stresses or shocks imposedupon the rigid plate 11 are absorbed by the progressive counterpressureset up by the interaction of the lip 19C upon the undersurface of therigid plate 11. As the force applied to the rigid plate 11 increases,the lip 19-C glides backwardly with respect to the undersurface of therigid plate 11 thereby elongating the spring blade 12. Also, a constantcounterpressure to the applied force is established which remainsconstant over a wide range of applied forces.

As previously noted, the resilient heel support of the present inventionmay be simply applied either to an existing shoe or to a shoe duringmanufacture by the application of pegs or nails 6 through the holes and8. Furthermore, the nails or pegs 6, and particularly the heads thereofcannot be torn out or worn away inasmuch as they are mounted beneath theundersurface of the rigid plate 11 and sunk deeply into the body of heel7.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention arepossible in the light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to beunderstood that within the scope of the appended claim, the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed as the invention is:

A resilient heel support in combination with a shoe having a heel and aninnersole, said heel support comprising in combination a stationaryrigid top plate supported on a flexing spring blade positioned on saidinnersole, said rigid plate lying essentially in a single plane andhaving an upper surface, a lower surface, a forward edge and a rearwardedge, said spring blade having a front edge and a back edge, said springblade having front and back parts meeting in a fold line and beinginclined with respect to each other, said front part being defined bysaid front edge and said fold line with said back part being defined bysaid back edge and said fold line, said spring blade being secured tosaid rigid plate by securement of said front edge and forward edge, saidfront part being inclined rearwardly away from said rigid plate and saidback part being inclined rearwardly toward said rigid plate with saidback edge freely resting in actual contact against the lower surface ofsaid rigid plate, said front part being adapted to lie flush againstsaid innersole whereby when pressure is applied downwardly against theupper surface of said rigid plate, said back part of said spring bladewill slide rearwardly relative to said rigid plate in actual contacttherewith to create a constant counter-pressure over a wide range ofapplied pressures.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 324,065 8/85Andrews 3637 1,399,153 12/21 Rogers 36-37 1,403,970 1/22 Lioy 3637 X1,708,683 4/29 Roberts 36--37 FOREIGN PATENTS 472,735 8/ 14 France.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

FRANK J. COHEN, Examiner.

